Sedimentological features of Cretaceous－Tertiary ( K/T) boundary section a long Heilongjiang River , Northeast China

The Jiayin area along the Heilongjiang River in Northeast China has attracted stratigraphic and sediment-ological interests recently because the Cretaceous－Tertiary (K/T) boundary should be located in this non-marine succession. Dinosaur remains disappear suddenly at the upper part of the Maastrichtian, whereas plants gradually evolved throughout the succession. Analysis of sedimentary facies has been carried out and paleo-environments through Upper Cretaceous to lower Paleocene sections are reconstructed. Fluvial to lacustrine sedimentary environments are inferred from the facies. Several debris flow events have been identified, and it is in these deposits that the dinosaur fossils are concentrated.     

Relationship between tree height and landslide characteristics obtained by GIS assessment

Landslides in forested landscapes have far-reaching implications, beyond that of just destroying the forest itself, sometimes initiating large-scale sediment disasters. Although vegetation increases slope stability through its root network, it is hard to evaluate its contribution to slope stability over a wide area. In this study, the relationship between tree height and landslide characteristics in the Ikawa catchment, central Japan, was investigated to develop a method for evaluating the effects of forest cover on slope stability over a regional extent. Catchment-wide tree height was obtained using airborne LiDAR point cloud data and used in conjunction with the root depth profile, measured for trees of various height by digging trenches. Root tensile strength per unit area of soil was calculated from individual root diameters and empirical power law equations on the relationship between root diameter and root tensile force in order to better understand the effect that tree height has on slope stability. Landslide density in the Ikawa catchment shows that landslides occur more frequently in forests with shorter trees, with occurrence decreasing as tree height increases. This is likely due to the stabilizing features of larger trees having a greater network of roots, which is supported by the general increase in total root area and the deeper penetration of root biomass into the soil as the height of trees surveyed increases. Landslide density was not solely affected by tree height, but also by slope gradient and plane curvature. Decreasing landslide occurrence and landslide area as tree height increases suggests that slope stability increases with tree height, while the random distribution of results when comparing landslide depth to tree height suggests that while tree height has an impact on relative slope stability, the landslide failure depth is independent of tree height, and thus controlled by other factors. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CHIME monazite dating as a tool to detect polymetamorphism in high‐temperature metamorphic terrane: Example from the Aoyama area,Ryoke metamorphic belt,Southwest Japan

Chemical Th–U–total Pb isochron method (CHIME) monazite dating was carried out for pelitic–psammitic migmatites and the Ao granite (one of the Younger Ryoke granites) from the Aoyama area, Ryoke metamorphic belt, Southwest Japan. The Ao granite gives an unequivocal age of 79.8 ± 3.9 Ma. The monazite grains in migmatites yield an age of 96.5 ± 1.9 Ma with rims and patchy domains of 83.5 ± 2.4 Ma. The 83.5 ± 2.4‐Ma overprinting on migmatites over the garnet–cordierite zone suggests a wide and combined effect of thermal input and fluid activity on the monazite grains caused by the contact metamorphism by the Younger Ryoke granites including the Ao granite. This contact metamorphism has not been detected from the major metamorphic mineral assemblage previously, possibly because the migmatites already possessed the high‐temperature mineral assemblage before the granite intrusions and were immune from contact metamorphism in terms of major metamorphic minerals. However, monazite records contact metamorphism clearly. Therefore, the field mapping of the CHIME monazite age is a powerful tool for recognition of polymetamorphism in high‐temperature metamorphic terrains where later thermal effects can not be easily detected by the growth of new major metamorphic minerals.     

Provenance, tectonics and source weathering of modern fluvial sediments of the Brahmaputra–Jamuna River, Bangladesh: Inference from geochemistry

This present study describes the elemental geochemistry of fluvial sediments in the Kurigram (upstream) to Sirajganj–Tangail (downstream) section of the Brahmaputra–Jamuna River, Bangladesh, with the aim of evaluating their provenance, weathering and tectonic setting. Petrographically, the sediments are rich in quartz (68%), followed by feldspars (8.5%) and lithic grains (7%). The bulk sediment chemistry is influenced by grain size. Concentrations of TiO₂, Fe₂O₃, MgO, K₂O, P₂O₅, Rb, Nb, Cr, V, Y, and, Ce, Th and Ga slightly decrease with increasing SiO₂/Al₂O₃ and grain size, suggesting clay matrix control. In contrast, concentrations of CaO, Na₂O, Sr and Pb increase with increasing SiO₂/Al₂O₃ and grain size, suggesting residence of these substances in feldspar. Decrease in Zr as grain size increases is likely controlled both by clay matrix and heavy minerals. In addition, heavy minerals' sorting also influences Ce, Th, Y and Cr abundances in some samples. The sediments are predominantly quartzose in composition with abundant low-grade metamorphic and sedimentary lithics, low feldspars and trace volcanic detritus, indicating a quartzose recycled orogen province as a source of the sediments. Discriminant diagrams together with immobile element ratio plots show that, the Brahmaputra–Jamuna River sediments are mostly derived from rocks formed in an active continental margin. Moreover, the rare earth element ratios as well as chondrite-normalized REE patterns with flat HREE, LREE enrichment, and negative Eu anomalies indicate derivation of the sediments of Brahmaputra–Jamuna River from felsic rock sources of upper continental crust (UCC). The chemical indices of alteration suggest that Brahmaputra–Jamuna River sediments are chemically immature and experienced low chemical weathering effects. In the A–CN–K ternary diagram, most of the samples close to the plagioclase–K-feldspar join line and to the UCC plot, and in the field of various lithologies of Higher Himalayan Crystalline Series, suggesting that rocks in these series are likely source rocks. Therefore, the elemental geochemistry of the Brahmaputra–Jamuna River sediments is controlled mostly by mechanical breakdown of lithic fragments and subsequent preferential attrition of muscovite > albite > quartz.     

日本结构控制的工程应用

提出了包括基础隔震系统、质量阻尼系统和其他阻尼器的结构振动控制系统,阐述了结构控制系统在日本的实际工程应用,同时还介绍了于2000年11月召开的第二届日本结构控制学术会议的情况.     

Crustal anorthosite formation by deep-seated hydrothermal circulation beneath fast-spreading axis: Constraints from chronological approach,Sr isotope,and fluid–chromite inclusion investigation

Hydrothermal circulation beneath the spreading axis plays a significant role in the exchange of energy and mass between the solid Earth and the oceans. Deep-seated hydrothermal circulation down to the crust/mantle boundary in the fast-spreading axis has been introduced by a number of studies regarding geological investigations and numerical models. In order to assess a reaction between hydrothermal fluid and host rock around the crust/mantle boundary, we conducted bulk trace element and Sr isotope analyses with a series of in situ investigations for crustal anorthosite, a reaction product between hydrothermal fluid and gabbro in the lowermost crustal section along Wadi Fizh, northern Oman ophiolite. In addition, we conducted titanite U–Pb isotope analyses to evaluate timing of the crustal anorthosite formation in the framework of the evolutional process of the Oman ophiolite. We estimated the formation age of the crustal anorthosite at 97.5 Ma ± 5.0 Ma, overlapping with the timing of the crust formation in the paleo spreading axis. The crustal anorthosite shows high-Th/U ratio (~2.5) and high-initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio (0.7050) due to seawater-derived hydrothermal fluid ingress into the precursor gabbro. With using analytical technique of micro-excavation at cryo-temperature, we detected Cl from a few micrometer-sized inclusion of aqueous fluid and chromite grains. The solubility of Cr was enhanced by complexation reactions with Cl in the hydrothermal fluid. Regarding reconstructed three-dimensional mass distribution of the inclusion and chromite composition, maximum Cr content of parental fluid was estimated at ~69 000 μg/g. The exceptionally high-Cr content was achieved locally by leaking of fluid and synchronous chromite crystallization during fluid entrapment. Presence of the deep-seated hydrothermal circulation could be assigned to the segment end, where cold seawater penetrates into the lowermost crust and extract heat along widely spaced network-like fluid channel.     

Grain-boundary migration of quartz during annealing experiments at high temperatures and pressures, with implications for metamorphic geology

Annealing experiments on agate, quartz schist and metachert at 800–1000 °C, confining pressures of 400 and 800  MPa, and annealing times of 6.0×10–3.6×10⁵s revealed normal grain growth of quartz in the agate, grain-size increasing with time, but the rate of grain growth decreasing with increasing grain size.
The boundaries of agate with quartz schist and metachert migrated into the agate at the expense of fine-grained quartz in the agate. The driving force for the migration appears to be the reduction of surface energy associated with removal of fine-grained quartz in the agate. Assuming the activation energy as Q _m =11  kcal mol⁻¹, a general expression for the relationship between velocity of boundary migration ( V   ) and driving force ( P ) is where γ is the specific surface energy of quartz, R is the gas constant and T  is the absolute temperature. The velocity is relatively fast at high temperatures on a geological time-scale. The expression assists a quantitative understanding of the microstructural development of quartz at metamorphic conditions.